Matt Bush breaks out; Tim Brown too

Denis Savage

04/23/2007

The Portland offense managed just two hits. San Antonio rallies late as Nick Hundley and Tim Brown have big days. The whole Storm offense rolled – again – with 19 hits and 15 runs. Tim Brown and Matt Bush led the way, combining for three homers and seven RBIs. Andy Underwood faltered after two stellar starts.

Portland lost 6-3 to Colorado Springs (Rockies)

Jared Wells took his third loss in four starts on Sunday. The right-hander allowed a season-high six runs on eight hits, two walks, and a hit batsman over 5.2 innings of work. Wells has hit a batter in three straight games. Right-handers were hitting .208 off him coming into the game but ended the game hitting .286 off him. The leadoff man has been on in 10 of 20 innings he has started.

Andrew Brown left one runner stranded in relief of Wells and struck out two while allowing one hit in an inning and a third. He has whiffed 17 in 13.1 innings. Brown has held right-handed hitters to one hit in 28 at bats to begin the year – a .036 average. He has not given up a hit when he is ahead in the count.

Jack Cust had the only hit for Portland until a Josh Howard single in the eighth, as all three runs scored were unearned. They did draw seven walks, two by Cust. Cust has a 10-game hitting streak and has been on base 26 times over that span with 16 hits in 35 at bats with 10 walks. He has upped his on base percentage from .222 to .444 in the process. His five-game RBI streak did come to a close.

San Antonio won 9-7 over Midland (A's)

Chase Headley and Tim Brown hit back-to-back homers in the second inning. After Drew Macias drew a walk and was picked off first, Nick Hundley hit the third homer of the inning two. Hundley added a two-out, two-run double in the fourth to score the aforementioned Headley and Brown. The three men accounted for all six of the Missions hits through the fourth. It was the second time this year that Hundley collected a multi-hit game and five of his nine hits on the year have gone for extra bases.

Brown homered twice, doubling his total for the year. It was his first multi-homer game as a professional and his second, a two-run shot, tied the game at 7-7. He came into the game in a 2-for-17 slump before going 3-for-5 with the two bombs and three runs scored. It was his second multi-hit game of the year.

Mike Ekstrom wasn't sharp, allowing four runs on eight hits and two walks. He allowed three in the first, left the bases juiced in the second, did not have trouble in the third and gave up two extra base hits in the fourth before being removed. Ekstrom surrendered four runs over his first two starts, spanning 10.1 innings.

Lake Elsinore won 15-3 over High Desert (Mariners)

Everyone in the lineup had a hit, run scored, and an RBI except Yordany Ramirez, as the team pounded out 19 hits. Seven players had multi-hit games and the team collected nine extra base hits. Seth Johnston fell a homer shy of the cycle and Jose Lobaton added two doubles to his resume, giving him seven extra base hits in his last four games.

Matt Bush hit a three-run homer in the sixth, his first long ball of the year and first since May 1, 2005 while playing for Fort Wayne. He also doubled, also his first of the year, and notched four RBIs, a career-high. His previous high had been three on July 18, 2005. Bush has two multi-hit games this year and had been in a 1-for-12 slump. The last time he notched two extra base hits in one came on August 16, 2005.

Matt Antonelli led off the game with a homer, the second time he has managed the feat this season. He is hitting .400 in the first inning this year, going 6-for-15. He is 9-for-39 in every other inning, a .237 average. The second baseman went 3-for-6 with two runs scored, his second three-hit game of the season. His last three-hit game came on the same night as his last homer.

Nic Crosta smashed a two-run homer, part of a three-hit night that included three RBIs and three runs scored. He has three dingers in the last two games and his five on the season place him third in the California League. Crosta has seven RBIs over the last two games. After netting four hits in his first 10 games, Crosta has six hits in his last two.

Fort Wayne lost 10-1 to Quad Cities (Cardinals)

After allowing an unearned run on two hits over his first 11 innings, Andy Underwood was tagged for five runs on eight hits and a walk over 3.1 innings on Sunday, dropping to 2-1 on the year. After allowing just one runner into scoring position over his first two starts, Underwood allowed four hits in six at bats in the same situation on Sunday. Righties went 5-for-8 off him as well.

Jeremy Hunt upped his hitting streak to six games with a 4-for-5 day that included a homer. The first baseman has an RBI in four straight games and five of the last six. It was the second four-hit game of his career, the last coming on July 19 last year with the Arizona Rookie League club. He is hitting .407 on the season and has a .545 average with runners in scoring position.

While five runs came across the plate while Derek McDaid was on the slab, the right-hander was only charged with one earned run, keeping his ERA at 1.86. He did surrender two homers and five runs on four hits over 2.2 innings but also stranded two inherited runners. Left-handed hitters are now hitting .381 off him while righties are batting .105.